Week Two is now complete! We have officially launched into our week-long training sessions dedicated to learning about the different business functions at Kraft Heinz. We are here to share a bit of what we learned during the first week focused on Marketing, and what we are loving about becoming a part of the Kraft Heinz family.
Before we dive into the week, here is a bit of background on each of us:
My name is Katie, and I’m from Massachusetts with a degree from MIT. I spent last summer interning at the Glenview R&D center on the Refrigerated Team. With a background in Chemical Engineering, I wasn’t especially experienced heading into Marketing Week, but was very excited to see the business and creative sides of Kraft Heinz.
My name is Maddy Gildersleeve, I am from St. Paul, Minnesota, and I studied Marketing & Public Relations at Drake University. I was so excited to start our program with a week dedicated to all things Marketing to begin understanding how so many of our iconic brands continue to stand the test of time and resonate with consumers.
We started our week with an “Introduction to Marketing” with Michelle St. Jacques, the Head of U.S. Brand Building. She introduced us to a few of the industry leading campaigns Kraft Heinz recently launched like Country Time’s Legalade and the growing success of Devour. Brand leaders took the time to share the differences between Category Marketing, Brand Build, Central Marketing, and the nuances of Foodservice Marketing. From there, we listened to seven brand portfolio overviews and completed three case studies. The case studies were a great opportunity to apply what we’ve learned about marketing approaches at Kraft Heinz, as well as get to know all the other Trainees a bit more.
Our exciting and creative week concluded with a special opportunity to participate in a Rise Against Hunger packing event. Katie had participated in a packing event during her time last summer, but it was great sharing the opportunity with the other Trainees. Between two shifts, we packed 40,000 meals – a huge accomplishment to celebrate a big week, and an amazing hands-on way to contribute to Kraft Heinz’s vision to grow a better world!
Our favorite quote this week came from Michelle St. Jacques when she gave us advice on succeeding at Kraft Heinz: “be brave and have an opinion.” Thanks to everyone for a great and learning-filled week!
